US report on Western Sahara confirms War Crime

In the recently published Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2018 – Western Sahara[1], the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor of the US Department of State confirms that Morocco is committing and ongoing a War Crime.

In the recently
published Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2018 –
Western Sahara[1], the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor of
the US Department of State confirms that Morocco is committing and ongoing of
the Practice Relating to Rule 130 of
International Humanitarian Law: Transfer of Own Civilian Population into
Occupied Territory, which constitutes a War Crime.

The report states:

As an inducement to relocate to the territory, workers in the formal sector earned up to 85 percent more than their counterparts in internationally recognized Morocco. The government also provided fuel subsidies and exempted workers from income and value-added taxes.”

The transfer of Moroccan population into Western Sahara,
the territory it occupies, is prohibited by international humanitarian law. The
transfer of an occupying power’s population to a territory it occupies amounts
to a war crime that may engage the individual criminal responsibility of those
responsible.[2]

The number of Moroccan settlers is expected to rise
further given the advancement of new construction in the occupied territories
but also due to the economic incentives offered by the Moroccan government, as
confirmed in the report of the US State Department.

A central feature of the Moroccan settlement policy in Western Sahara has
been the gradual takeover and designation of land undertaken through various
measures, including the declaration of “state land”, impunity of takeover of Saharawi
housing and land by the settlers, and encouragement of economic activities in
the occupied territories. According to the report: “There were anecdotal reports that Sahrawi faced discrimination in hiring and
promotion.”The social, economic and political
apartheid the Saharawi population suffers has been vastly documented by PUSL
over the years, as well the continues protests of young Saharawi demanding
employment.

International LAW

Practice Relating to Rule 130.
Transfer of Own Civilian Population into Occupied Territory

Geneva Convention IV

Article 49, sixth paragraph, of
the 1949 Geneva Convention IV provides: “The Occupying Power shall not deport
or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it
occupies.”

Additional Protocol I

Article 85(4)(a) of the 1977
Additional Protocol I provides that “the transfer by the Occupying Power of
parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies” is a grave
breach of the Protocol.

ICC Statute

Under Article 8(2)(b)(viii) of the
1998 ICC Statute, “[t]he transfer, directly or indirectly, by the Occupying
Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies”
constitutes a war crime in international armed conflicts.

ILC Draft Code of Crimes against
the Peace and Security of Mankind (1991)

Article 22(2)(b) of the 1991 ILC
Draft Code of Crimes against the Peace and Security of Mankind considers “the
establishment of settlers in an occupied territory and changes to the
demographic composition of an occupied territory” as an “exceptionally serious
war crime”.

ILC Draft Code of Crimes against
the Peace and Security of Mankind (1996)

Under Article 20(c)(i) of the 1996
ILC Draft Code of Crimes against the Peace and Security of Mankind, “[t]he
transfer by the Occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into
the territory it occupies” is a war crime.

UNTAET Regulation No. 2000/15

The UNTAET Regulation No. 2000/15
establishes panels with exclusive jurisdiction over serious criminal offences,
including war crimes. According to Section 6(1)(b)(viii), “[t]he transfer,
directly or indirectly, by the Occupying Power of parts of its own civilian
population into the territory it occupies” constitutes a war crime in
international armed conflicts.